Methods and apparatus for inflating balloons



Dec. 22, 1964 a. J. LENNOX 3,151,993

METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR INFLATING BALLOONS Filed Nov. 15. 1961 IN V EN TOR. grace J. Lenn OX HTTORNEYS United States Patent 3,161,998 METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR INFLATING BALLOONS Bruce J. Lennox, Saginaw, Mich, assignor of fifty percent to William A. Muehlenbeck, Saginaw, Mich. Filed Nov. 15, 1961, Ser. No. 152,519 6 Claims. (Cl. 53-7) This invention relates to methods and apparatus for inflating balloons and more particularly to methods and apparatus enabling one man easily and quickly to inflate balloons with air, helium, or a combination of such gases, and effectively seal and tie the inflated balloons.

Inflated balloons are popular novelties at fairs, circuses, picnics, outings, sporting and social events, and particularly balloons inflated with helium gas so as to render the balloons lighter than Helium is furnished to balloon vendors in pressure tanks fitted with a regulator and a discharge nozzle, over the end of which the vendor conventionally fits the mouth of the balloon for inflation to the desired pressure. After the balloon is inflated, the vendor usually removes the balloon from the nozzle, twists the neck of the balloon and, while holding the inflated portion of the balloon body under his arm, tries to tie a cord around the neck of the balloon so as to prevent leakage of the gas and to provide an anchor to prevent the balloons from escaping. Sealing and tying a balloon in this manner is a diflicult and somewhat laborious task, requiring considerable experience and dexterity on the part of the vendor if he is to avoid the loss of a substantial amount of helium and if he is to inflate and tie balloons at a sufficiently rapid rate to derive the utmost profit from the sale of balloons.

Although helium is not a particularly expensive gas, the price of a tank of helium gas is equivalent to the profit derived from the sale of a substantial number of balloons. If each balloon is inflated with pure helium, the number of balloons which can be inflated from a single tank of helium is limited. In order that a balloon be lighter than air, it is not necessary that a balloon be filled entirely with pure helium. A mixture of air and helium in a one to one ratio will, in most instances, provide a balloon with suflicient buoyancy to make it difiicult to say whether the balloon is filled with pure helium or with a mixture of helium and air. Thus, a balloon inflated with a mixture of air and helium is capable of functioning substantially in the same manner as a balloon filled with pure helium, but has the advantage of requiring only about half as much helium, thereby enabling a vendor to inflate twice as many balloons from a single tank of helium.

In the inflating apparatus provided heretofore, it has not been feasible to take advantage of the savings which can result from inflating a balloon with a mixture of air and helium for the reason that too much time was required to transfer a partially inflated balloon from a helium tank to an air tank, or vice versa. Moreover, transferring of the partially inflated balloon from one tank to another could result in loss of at least part of the gas contained in the balloon.

An object of this invention is to provide apparatus which facilitates the inflation and sealing of balloons.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for inflating a balloon with air, helium or a combination of such gases.

A further object of the invention is to provide balloon inflating apparatus of the character referred to which facilitates the inflating and tying of balloons by one person.

Another object of the invention is to provide balloon inflating apparatus which is adapted for use with balloons of diflerent sizes.

A further object of the invention is to provide balloon inflating apparatus of the character described which is composed of commonplace, easily obtainable, relatively inexpensive parts.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out specifically or will become apparent from the following description when it is considered in conjunction with the appended claims and the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3, 3 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4, 4 of FIGURE 1.

Apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention includes a generally L-shaped supporting member 1 having a base leg 2 and a right angular, upstanding support leg 3. The base leg is adapted to be secured in any suitable manner such as by screws (not shown) to a table, plat form, or other supporting structure 4 so as to locate the apparatus 1 at a level convenient to an operator.

Gas conduit means represented generally by the reference character 5 comprises a pair of hollow tubes 6 and 7 that are joined at corresponding ends by means of fittings 8 to a pair of manually operable, normally closed gas flow regulating valves 5 and 10 of known construction. The valve 9 may be joined by means of a coupling 11 to a flexible hose or the like 12 that communicates with the interior of a tank (not shown) of helium, and the valve 10 may be connected by similar means to a source of compressed air such as the accumulator of an air compressor or, if desired, a tank of compressed air. The valve 9 includes a manually controlled operating member 13 which may be depressed to open the valve and cause gas to flow through the valve 9 to the conduit 6, and the valve 10 includes a similar operating member 14 operable to enable air to flow to the conduit 7. The opposite ends of the conduits 6 and 7 are fixed in a T fitting 15 having an upstanding branch pipe 16 in which is threaded a set screw 17.

A hollow gas delivery tube is indicated by the reference character 18 and is .threadedly joined to a generally cylindrical, hollow plug or sleeve 19 that is rotatably received within the branch pipe 16. The plug 19 is provided with an annular groove 20 in which the set screw 17 is adapted loosely to be received so as to permit rotation of the device 18 relatively to the T fitting 15 and to avoid inadvertent removal of the plug 19 from the tube branch 16. Preferably, the plug 19 is provided with a second, lower groove in which is seated an O ring 21 that is adapted snugly to fit against the inner surface of the tube 16 and prevent the escape of gas around the sleeve 19.

The delivery tube 18 is threaded at its upper or opposite end for removable reception of a correspondingly threaded hollow nozzle member 22 that terminates at its upper end in a frusto-conical seat 23. The cooperating screw threads on the tube 18 and on the nozzle 22 enable nozzles of different size to be substituted for the nozzle 22.

The construction and arrangement of the parts thus far described are such that the delivery tube 18 is adapted to receive gas from either or both of the conduits 6 and 7 and to discharge the gas through the nozzle 22. The delivery tube 18, together with the nozzle 22, is rotatable relatively to the conduit apparatus 5 and, if desired, a finger piece 24 may be secured to the tube 18 between the ends of the latter to facilitate rotation of the tube. The finger piece 24, however, it not an essential part of the apparatus.

As is best indicated in FIGURE 4, the upper end of the upstanding support leg 3 is provided with a vertically extending, elongated slot 25 through which extends the shank 26 of a generally ring-like balloon holding member 27. The holding member 27 is substantially concentric with the nozzle 22, as is shown in FIGURE 2, and preferably is provided with a gap 28 at one side of the latter for a purpose presently to be explained, but the holder 27 could be an unbroken annulus, if desired. The shank 26 of the holding member preferably is threaded to receive an adjusting bolt 29 and a cooperating wing nut 30, the parts 29 and 30 cooperating to fix the number 27 in any one of a number of vertically adjusted positions relative to the support 1.

The apparatus is adapted for use with a rubber or the like balloon B having an inflatable body portion 31 terminating one end in an'open mouth neck portion 32. The size of the nozzle 22 will be so selected as to be somewhat larger than the mouth opening of the neck of the balloon so as to require the latter to be stretched in order to receive the nozzle.

In the use of the apparatus, an uninflated balloon,

with its'neck 32 lowermost, is inserted within the ringlike holder 27 through the gap 28, or vertically if no gap is provided, and the mouth of the neck is fitted over the nozzle 22. The operator thenmanipulates either or both of the valve control elements 13 and 14 so as to inflate the body of the balloon either with helium, air, or a combination thereof. As the body 31 of the balloon inflates, it will swell and cause the wall of the balloon adjacent the holder 27 to engage the latter. The holder 27 should be so positioned relatively to the nozzle 22 as to assure engagement between the holder and the balloon body when the latter is inflated to the proper pressure. When the holder is properly positioned, there will be a space between itself and the discharge end of the nozzle 22 that is somewhat less than the length of the balloon neck 32, as is shown in FIGURE 1.

When the balloon is fully inflated, the operator may release the valve elements 13 and 14, thereby discontinuing the delivery of gas to the balloon. The balloon then will be in the condition illustrated in FIGURE 1. The stretched condition of (the mouth of the balloon will cause a frictional force to be exerted on the nozzle that is suflicient to prevent inadvertent separation of the balloon and the nozzle.

The gas may be sealed within the balloon by the operators rotating the delivery tube 18 so as to rotate the nozzle 22. Frictional engagement between the balloon body and the holding member 27 will restrain rotation of the balloon body 21 during rotation of the tube 18, thereby causing the neck 32 to be twisted. The size of the sleeve 19 relative to the pipe branch 16 should be such that the natural tendency of the twisted neck of the balloon to un-twist is incapable of imparting rotation to the tube 18. That is, there should be some frictional force exerted between the parts 16 and 19 which must be overcome before the tube 18 can be rotated. The frictional force between those parts may be complemented by the sealing ring 21 and, if desired, by the set screw 17, but the frictional force should not be so great so as to make it unduly difiicult to effect rotation of the tube 18.

When the balloon neck 32 is in its twisted condition, the operator may tie the end of a piece of string around the neck so as to maintain the latter twisted and to seal the balloon body against the escape of gas. Thereafter, the mouth of the balloon may be stripped off the nozzle 22 and the balloon removed from the holding ring 27 by movement laterally through the gap 28, or vertically upwardly if no gap is provided.

The disclosed embodiment and method are representative of the presently preferred form and method of practicing the invention, but the disclosure intended to be illustrative rather than definitive of the invention. The invention is defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A method of inflating and'sealing a balloon having an inflatable body terminating at one end in an open mouth neck, said method comprising inserting said balloon within a ring-like holder; frictionally fitting the open mouth of said neck over a rotatable gas discharge nozzle, inflating said body with a gas until said body frictionally engages said holder; rotating said nozzle while said body is frictionally engaged by said holder against rotation to twist said neck; tying said neck in twisted condition between said nozzle and said body; and removing said nozzle from the mouth of said neck.

2. A method of inflating and sealing a balloon having an inflatable body terminating at one end in an open mouth neck, said method comprising inserting said balloon within a ring-like holder; stretching the mouth of said neck and fitting it over a rotatable gas discharge nozzle; discharging gas through said nozzle into said balloon to inflate the body and cause it to swell until said body frictionally engages said holder; rotating said nozzle while said body is frictionally engaged by said holder to twist said neck; tying said neck in twisted condition at a location between said holder and said nozzle; removing said nozzle from said mouth; and removing said balloon from said holder.

3. Apparatus for inflating a balloon having an inflatable body terminating in an open mouth neck portion, said apparatus comprising gas delivery means; a nozzle member in communication with said delivery means and having a discharge opening over which the mouth of said balloon is adapted to be fitted; ring means for holding said balloon body; means mounting said ring means in a fixed position adjacent but spaced from said delivery means to provide between said holding means and the discharge opening of said nozzle member a space less than the length of the neck of said balloon; and means mounting said nozzle member for rotation relative to said ring means and to said delivery means.

4. Apparatus for inflating a balloon having an inflatable body terminating in an open mouth neck portion, said apparatus comprising a gas delivery tube; a nozzle member having a discharge opening adapted to be received in the mouth of said neck portion; ring-like balloon holding means for holding the body of said balloon when the latter is inflated; means mounting said holding means adjacent and substantially concentric with but spaced from the discharge end of said nozzle member in a position to receive the neck portion of said balloon, the space between said holding means and the discharge end of said nozzle member being less than the length of the neck of said balloon; and means mounting said nozzle member for rotation relative to said holding means and to said delivery tube.

5. The apparatus set forth in claim 4 wherein said holding means has a gap at one side thereof through which said neck portion of said balloon may pass.

6. The apparatus set forth in claim 4 wherein the mounting means for said holding means is adjustable for adjustment of said holding means toward and away from said nozzle member to vary said space.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,494,709 5/24 Roberts 5379 X 1,588,040 6/26 Moore 5388 2,576,322 11/51 Waters 5388 X 2,643,598 6/53 Carroll 4687 X 2,812,628 11/57 Russell et al 53--ll2 X 2,819,573 1/58 Whittington 53-7 FOREIGN PATENTS 274,000 7/27 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES Sears Roebuck Catalogue, Spring & Summer, 1959 edition, pages 1306 and 1307.

FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT A. LEIGHEY, ROBERT E. PULFREY,

Examiners. 

1. A METHOD OF INFLATING AND SEALING A BALLOON HAVING AN INFLATABLE BODY TERMINATING AT ONE END IN AN OPEN MOUTH NECK, SAID METHOD COMPRISING INSERTING SAID BALLOON WITHIN A RING-LIKE HOLDER; FRICTIONALLY FITTING THE OPEN MOUTH OF SAID NECK OVER A ROTATABLE GAS DISCHARGE NOZZLE, INFLATING SAID BODY WITH A GAS UNTIL SAID BODY FRICTIONALLY ENGAGES SAID HOLDER; ROTATING SAID NOZZLE WHILE SAID BODY IS FRICTIONALLY ENGAGED BY SAID HOLDER AGAINST ROTATION TO TWIST SAID NECK; TYING SAID NECK IN TWISTED CONDITION BETWEEN SAID NOZZLE AND SAID BODY; AND REMOVING SAID NOZZLE FROM THE MOUTH OF SAID NECK. 